By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Following the additions of Josh Carlton and Tolga Kay, Darussafaka Lassa also picked up 29-year-old shooting guard James Woodard.
The former Tulsa standout inked a contract for the remainder of the 2023-24 season, the team based in Istanbul announced on Thursday.
With a Basketball Champions League best-of-three series against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg coming up, Woodard will face his former team. Playing for the German club generated his previous 12 appearances in the Champions League, during the 2021-22 installment of FIBA Europe’s top-tier club continental competition. In 2022-23, he logged 12 games played in the 7DAYS EuroCup as a key player for Veolia Towers Hamburg.
Rebuilding the roster of recent departures, head coach Yakup Sekizkok secured the services of Woodard, Carlton, and Kay alongside remaining Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Berk Demir, Doruk Dora, Can Korkmaz, Kilicarslan Senkahya, Janis Timma, Bora Yasar, and Muhsin Yasar. Besides aiming to reach the Round of 16 in the Champions League, Dacka is striving to improve the current 6-7 W-L tally in Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi.
Elsewhere in the BCL, Le Mans released Tyran de Lattibeaudiere from his short-term contract. The Jamaican forward averaged 10.5 points per game over four appearances, helping his side clinch a berth in the Play-Ins, apart from putting up 9.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest in France’s Betclic Elite. Resuming the continental campaign next week, MSB takes on Promitheas in a best-of-three series, also seeking a ticket to the Round of 16.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League